BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM
Lim: ‘The system can help shorten the construction period. Something that takes a whole year can be done in eight to 10 months. The shorter time period means faster revenue.’
PETALING JAYA: The rising cost of labour is prompting construction outfit ML Global Bhd to use pre-cast materials in future construction projects.
ML Global group managing director Tan Sri Lim Hock San said the use of such materials will help the company cut down on costs and improve competitiveness.
“The system can help shorten the construction period. Something that takes a whole year can be done in eight to 10 months. The shorter time period means faster revenue,” he told reporters after the company’s AGM.
“The quality will also be better. In the longer run, it will also lead to better cost-savings.”
Pre-cast materials may comprise columns, beams, slabs and staircases that can be assembled on site with minimal labour use.
ML Global executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Richard Lim Lit Chek said the company plans to incorporate pre-cast materials in its projects by next year. “In simple terms, you build your concrete, wall, Lego pieces inside a factory, and then you ship it to the site and just assemble it.
“So the effect of that is you cut down a lot of labour and you do it within a factory environment.
“You’re also not affected by things like rain, as the quality is controlled within the factory.”
According to reports, the company plans to invest up to RM40mil in a pre-cast panels plant.
On another note, Hock San said the company’s current orderbook of over RM2bil will help sustain the company over the next three years.
Lit Chek said ML Global currently has 22 ongoing projects.
“The contract value for the projects is RM1.6bil. We’ve done RM600mil, so the outstanding is RM1bil. Add on to the new ones we just replenished brings it to RM2bil.”
Last week, ML Global clinched three contracts worth a total of RM1.04bil from parent company LBS Bina Group Bhd.
The company, 55.3% owned by LBS Bina, said unit MITC Engineering Sdn Bhd received a letter of award to develop four Rumah Selangorku apartment blocks in Bandar Saujana Putra valued at RM168.11mil.
In addition, MITC received letters of intent for piling, pilecap and building works for four condominium towers in Bukit Jalil worth an estimated RM687.19mil, and for the design, feasibility study and building works for two blocks of serviced apartments in Sepang with an estimated value of RM188.81mil.
The projects will double the company’s current outstanding order book to about RM2.08bil.
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